 Whether you hate them or love them, one can't really deny the big-screen success of the 'Resident Evil' franchise. Paul W.S. Anderson pretty well drove it into the ground, and a lot of gaming fans had a whole slew of problems with them - not the least of which was the lead character of Alice, who never had anything to do with the games. So, of course, it's time for a reboot! And while this didn't do terribly well critically, I have to say that I still really enjoyed it, and I'm sticking to that.
Even though when it comes to the game franchise, I'm relatively clueless (because tank controls ruined everything forever... and yes, I need to play the remakes), I do have some familiarity with various characters and situations thanks to the book series. It also helps me a GREAT deal to not be a "purist" when it comes to an adaptation. A good comparison to 'Resident Evil' for me would be something like 'The Haunting of Hill House'. There are a few adaptations of that story, using the same characters in very different circumstances, and none of them are actually that bad (although one might argue that about the '99 version). Luckily for me, this gave me the exact same effect that 'Silent Hill' did. I think I'm just gonna start calling it the "Silent Hill" effect. To define this, basically, I'm able to approach the film as its own movie as opposed to an adaptation that has me searching out all of its faults. I find this works pretty well (although a real 'RE' fan might correct me on this) as a sort of "crash course" in 'Resident Evil' education. For comparison, 'Detective Pikachu' was a good "crash course" for those unfamiliar with 'Pokemon'. As far as I could tell, this was a good blend of the first two games. It uses all of the right characters and doesn't feel the need to bring in someone brand spanking new to everything to be some sort of main character who looks amazing with a red dress and a gigantic gun. Aptly, in 1998, we meet Claire Redfield (Kaya Scodelario) who is on her way back to her ruined hometown of Raccoon City with important information to give her brother, Chris (Robbie Amell) about the Umbrella Corporation's experiments. Anyone reading this right now already knows about the major leak that makes a shitload of walking dead, but it's the whole process of their deterioration that's so horrific here. I have to admit that while it's probably pretty inaccurate for the game, it's fantastically creepy for a horror movie. Anyway, ultimately Chris doesn't believe her at first, but soon enough, that changes. Chris, along with skilled STARS (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) Alpha Team, Jill Valentine (Hannah John-Kamen), Albert Wesker (Tom Hopper), Brad Vickers (Nathan Dales) and Richard Aiken (Chad Rook) are all sent to the Spencer Mansion to investigate the disappearance of their Bravo team. Of course, within the mansion, they find all sorts of cool stuff that point at Umbrella's experimentation gone awry. Meanwhile, rookie Leon S. Kennedy (Avan Jogia), police chief Irons (Donal Logue) and Claire end up having to hold the fort at the police station, thus giving us a generous roll-up of the first two games. Bearing in mind that I'm no expert, I feel like I got a REAL 'Resident Evil' movie here as opposed to the action-horror the original 6 amounted to. There's no doubt in my mind that 'Resident Evil' purists won't be the biggest fans of this. But I really do feel like this is still the video game genre stepping forward as opposed to backward. All of the right elements seemed to be here, but it also doesn't go completely without criticism. If the film has any problem at all, it's that it tries to do too much in a short time, not even reaching two hours in length. It may have been better as two short movies, but I appreciate the effort they put forth in trying to give us a combination film as opposed to stretching it out as far as it can go. Apparently, it was quite successful, so I am curious to see if they will continue this as a whole new (and already kind of better) 'Resident Evil' film series. 4/5
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 One particular video game movie that floats under the radar, and rightfully so, is the zombie survival team-up flick of 'Dead Trigger'; a movie based on a mobile game of the same name where the player goes through upgrading this and that, playing story missions etc. and progressing things over time. It's a relatively common type of game, but I have a couple of other mobile titles that act like that, which I'd far rather play. However, that's not to suggest the game is bad, i'm just altogether unfamiliar.
In the game, a plague from an unknown source kills billions and transforms others into hideous creatures. The remainders of humanity desperately try to survive the outbreak, while a man named Julian Lassagne creates a colony called the New Hope. He leads this group of survivors, and you play as the protagonist, Kyle, who joins them in the fight. So, once again, we have here a case of the movie taking some liberties, as about the only thing that remains the same is the protagonists name, Kyle. In the movie, a team of misfits are recruited by the government to fight against the zombie outbreak. Led by soldiers Rockstock (Isaiah Washington) and Kyle Walker (Dolph Lundgren), the team consists of #121212, Chris Norton (Chris Galya), a homeless wanderer; #081274, Samantha Atkins (Luciana Carro), a fighter after a clean record; #021309, Daniel Chen (Justin Chon), a gamer with a zombie bodycount on the mind, his mother being killed by them; #081672, Gerald "G-Dawg" Jefferson (Romeo Miller), a petty thief with a sick mother; and #092613, Naomi Shika (Natali Yura), a girl who seemingly lost her family in the outbreak, and a couple more who end up being rather obviously expendable. The team must then fight their way through the most mild zombie outbreak you've ever seen in order to locate and retrieve a team of scientists who may very well be sitting on the cure. The plot sounds somewhat average, but truth be told, a lot of it is below average to dumb. There's so much of it that makes absolutely no sense, like various things still going throughout the outbreak. When one thinks about how Covid has effected the world and businesses, it's absolutely ridiculous to imagine that life could go on in certain ways during a zombie outbreak. These zombies are creatures I almost feel sorry for. When you take 'The Walking Dead', as things progress, zombies become a bit more of a background thing, and not as much of a terrifying threat as they once were. They go from flesh-eating nightmare fuel cannibals to pretty much wild dogs, as we see humanity becoming the real monsters. Now try to imagine this zombie outbreak being contained to how characters see zombies in the last parts of the show. Really, the idea of getting a bunch of misfits to fight in the zombie apocalypse is laughable - but then when you look at these zombies, they're a joke, and indeed, a lot of the deaths here are totally laughable. However, things aren't quite laughable enough to make this a movie that's so bad it's good. As the movie unfolds, a lot of it is just wondering how they came up with such oddball concepts. Having never played the game, I really don't know about any accuracies. But one thing I do know is that Dead Trigger is a mobile game, and it really does beg the question of whether or not they've run out of ideas. Yes, there's 'Angry Birds', but that was also incredibly trendy. Everyone and their mother knows that title, even if they haven't played it. 'Dead Trigger', however, seems very under the radar (or I've been under a rock), but any way you look at it, it's definitely a strange go-to for a zombie apocalypse movie. Trust me when I say this one ranks near the bottom for both zombie and video game movies. 1/5  Back when I reviewed this as a "Now Playing" review, I mentioned that video game movies may finally be finding their footing. It was either that, or expectations for video game movies have become so low that we're starting to realize they might deserve a little bit of slack. It's hard to get a video game movie really "right", but there's still those few that stand out, just because they at least feel like the game. The primary example for me is 'Mortal Kombat'; not perfect, but feels right. This film is no exception, really. It's not the best film, but damned if it doesn't deliver what I came to see. Well, at least within it's last half hour.
The plot behind this one involves an experiment gone awry on a satellite involving a monstrous, mutated rat. In other words, it's obvious that we have some big corporation testing something on animals, and some side effects include some monsterism. A crew member is ordered by her company, Energyne, to retrieve a bunch of canisters that contain the mutagenic pathogen, created by some crazy lady named Claire Wyden (Malin Akerman). The canisters crash land on Earth, and the first is discovered by George (Jason Liles), a rare albino gorilla at the San Diego Wildlife Preserve. He's cared for by Primatologist Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson), a man who is also a former US Army Special Forces soldier and a strong part of an anti-poaching unit. Something from the crashed canister starts to take George over though, making him angry, confused, emotional, and grow very big very quickly. The rest of the underlying story has to do with figuring out how to help George out, and we find out the same old story that Energyne is trying to use the pathogen as a biological weapon rather than the supposed cure for *insert disease here*. So yeah, pretty 'Resident Evil'-ish. It's also kind of preachy about its message to protect wildlife, has some cheesy dialogue, and isn't tremendously acted. So where's the good in it? Well, again, it's in that last half hour. Personally, I feel that 'Rampage' is another one that has some leeway to it. Here we have a movie based on a game where the whole point IS to play as a monster and wreak havoc on a city, tearing down buildings, eating people, it was awesome times. In that sense, if a movie is made for something like that, then you can expect the unforgiving tearing apart of a city. I dunno how many lives are saved during an evacuation process, but honestly, I was gonna give this movie that much slack anyway. I'd have been more disappointed in NOT seeing it, being that it's what the game offered. It was very much the same idea with 'Tomb Raider' where the last parts of the movie feel enough like the game that it sort of makes up for the otherwise not so grand opening. This is a movie that isn't at all great if you're looking for substance, but it can be a lot of fun if you're looking for style. For me, it's probably one of the better video game movies out there, if only because... well, it's 'Rampage'. This is an example of a movie you go to in an effort to see destruction, mayhem and things get torn apart, because that's pretty much all the game ever was. In my opinion, the movie did it justice, and even had the right monsters for it. If nothing else, I think this one actually provides a pretty fun ride. Yeah, it's silly, but it's a good time. 3/5  Whether or not we decide whether or not we enjoy the 'Resident Evil' film series, one can't really deny its success. They cranked out six movies, each was pretty successful (though none really did gangbusters), and it was a series that managed to set up a lot of continuations through cliff-hangers, and see them through to the end. I might even argue that the way this ends, though not a cliff-hanger, does suggest that things could continue. So far, for yours truly, it has been a steady ride of sinking and plateauing, but never really rising. That is until now, and even having said that, it's still only by a small increment.
So what made this one good to me, while the others played out anywhere from bad to average? Well, it's hard to put my finger on it, but perhaps it's a better idea to get to know my tastes a little more. Whether or not something is good, it can develop some kind of nostalgic factor for me, and I do have this with the first of the films. This came along in 2016 when I was 34 upon its release, concluding a series that's been around since 2002, when I was still 19 upon its release. So the series does cover my twenties, and it's like remembering funky 80s hairstyles. Perhaps they're not particularly close to my heart, but the memories of the 'Resident Evil' movies coming out was simply a part of things. I'm also a sucker for things concluding after a long run, not so much because it ends, but because I always feel like there's more put into a final chapter... unless it's 'Freddy's Dead' or 'Jason Goes to Hell', but I digress. As the film opens, Alice (Milla Jovovich) does a recap with a bit of history for anyone new coming into things. Founder of Umbrella, Dr. James Marcus (Mark Simpson) had a daughter named Alicia who was dying from progeria - a genetic disorder which makes one appear older than they really are. If you've ever seen the Robin Williams movie, 'Jack' - same deal. In his desperation, Marcus attempts to use the T-Virus on her (not knowing its full effects yet) and various other patients suffering with the disorder. However, they reanimate as zombies, and Marcus tries to shut the program down before things get out of hand. But then Dr. Alexander Isaacs (Iain Glen) has him secretly killed by Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts), and adopts Alicia, taking over Umbrella. The film picks up where the last one left off, as Alice awakens in Washington, DC. The Red Queen (Ever Anderson) hologram pops up and informs Alice about Umbrella developing an airborne anti-virus that's being held back at the Hive - the setting for the first film. If Alice can get her hands on it, and release it, that will mean the eventual end of the T-virus altogether, and may very well also mean Alice's death. During the mission for this film, Alice ends up finding out just how tied in she is with Umbrella's past and, though things do get a little convoluted, I have to admit that I actually appreciated some of the turns this took. They bring in new characters (including new badass female protagonist, Abigail, played by Ruby Rose), bring back old characters (including Ali Larter as Claire Redfield) and things manage to come to a suitable end with one big action-packed feast for the eyes. I think a big part of why I liked this a little more than the others also has to do with the fact that I saw this with fresh eyes. Ulike all of the previous titles, this was my first viewing. So, much like seeing a 'Fast & Furious' movie these days, there's that matter of knowing exactly what to expect. I went into this knowing that action-wise, it almost had to be parallel to the previous couple of films- if not more (which it was). Put simply, these films have developed a rollercoaster ride reputation, so this time around it was pretty easy for me to just strap in and enjoy the ride, rather than looking for all of the ride's various problems. For whatever reason, this was probably the 'Resident Evil' title that I ultimately had the most fun with as it provided me with a lot of cool visuals that almost made me feel like a kid again. One's opinion on the 'Resident Evil' series is bound to differ from movie to movie though, and I can see people disagreeing with my thought process here pretty easily. When it comes to these, it sort of just depends on what you're looking for, as each film has it's own little bit of spectacle to it. Unfortunately, if you're looking for any sort of faithful game adaptation, you should probably just stick to the games and avoid these altogether. These movies exist as their own thing, borrowing various elements from the games, as opposed to just being direct adaptations. It seemed to all work out for the franchise in the end, and from what I understand, there's some "remake" stuff going on right now, so we'll have to see what happens. But for now, these can be a fun watch with the right mindset, even if they're not all that great. All you need to do is toss that brain of yours out that window. 3/5  Once again, my experience is minimal at best. All I've really done with the 'Assassin's Creed' game series is offer myself the short end of the stick by only ever renting and playing the first. Why? Because I'm a stickler for playing and watching things "in order", and I really need to learn that a lot of the time with gaming, it doesn't matter all that much. It was long enough ago that I don't remember much, but what stood out was how incredibly easy it was to hide from idiots by pulling up that hood. I also remember hay-diving, and having to start at the same God-forsaken point every single time.
Needless to say, I wasn't the biggest fan of the game. Most will tell me, however, that it's probably the lamest of the series (although I'm not sure if it has been replaced with a lamer title. That's all up to the fan-base). The idea is interesting enough. You control a character who lives in the modern day named Desmond Miles who lives the genetic memories of his ancestor, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad through a machine known as the "Animus". As the game unfolds, as do details about the struggle between the Assassin Brotherhood; fighting for peace through free will, and the Knights Templar; also fighting for peace, but through control. I suppose one could think Jedi/Empire. Both seek an ancient relic called the "Apple of Eden", which can be used for mind-control. As the Templar wants it for fairly obvious reasons, the Assassins wish to intercept and destroy it before it falls in the wrong hands. The game is played in a pretty open-world setting, and focuses largely on combat, parkour, and "stealth" (a part of the game I consider insanely broken). All things considered, adaptation-wise, this actually does a pretty good job, but unfortunately doesn't come without a few glaring problems - not the least of which is the simple fact that it's actually kind of boring (of course, I'm only speaking for myself here). In the movie, we meet Cal Lynch (Michael Fassbender) who uses a revolutionary new technology to time-travel to 15th-century Spain by using his genetic memories from his DNA. In Spain, he lives out the experiences of a distant relative and member of the Assassin Brotherhood, Aguilar de Nerha (Also Fassbender). Using his experiences from the past, Cal soon develops skills he needs to stand up against the very corporation sending him back, soon realizing he's being used to obtain an ancient relic - and yeah, it's also the Apple. So really, aside from maybe using the proper names, this isn't entirely off from what it's supposed to be. But what about that boredom I experienced? The film also gives us the characters of head scientist, Sofia (Marion Cotillard), CEO of the Templars' Abstergo Foundation, Rikkin (Jeremy Irons), Cal's father, Joseph (Brendan Gleeson), fellow assassins, Lin (Michelle H. Lin) and Moussa (Michael Kenneth Williams). In all honesty, this was just to illustrate some of the star-power the film has. Each has their respective role, but I could also be here all day unfolding the plot when what a review comes down to is "what did I think about it?" Despite my overall boredom here, I have to admit that the film had its moments that reminded me of my in-game experiences and, honestly, I think the boredom might be a "me" thing. There was something about the way they talked in this that started slowly putting me to sleep. That's not to say that the action and adventure that takes place in the games isn't there, but I think it's overshadowed by a bit of a convoluted plot, and quite a bit of exposition. I can't say I hated it, but I can admit when a movie doesn't strike me, and this sure as hell didn't strike me in any particular way. With a movie like this, I like to say it's just sort of "there". It exists, and I didn't have any real reason to check it out until the purposes of this review. It does, however, put a glimmer of hope in one's imagination for Hollywood finally getting video game movies right - but again, this is all up for debate. 3/5  This one picks up where the last one left off, and again, hits the ground running with some action. As I mentioned in my previous review, this is part two of the "Umbrella Trilogy", which pretty much feels like one long climax complete with good fight choreography, action and visuals along with a pretty sweet soundtrack. In the right frame of mind, these can be fun. But the fairly bad acting and sometimes overacting, basic ongoing plot point of going after Umbrella, and many other reasons you need to throw your brain out the window to enjoy it, it's still not the best thing out there.
I'm gonna try to keep this spoiler free, but when we last left our heroes, Alice (Milla Jovovich), Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) (and a couple of other big spoilish names I'm iffy about mentioning), they were on board an Umbrella Corporation freighter. They are violently attacked by a bunch of V-22 Ospreys, led by a brainwashed Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory). During the attack, Alice is captured, and we are randomly thrown into her waking up, living an average suburban lifestyle with her husband, Todd (Oded Fehr), who we otherwise know as Carlos, and daughter, Becky (Aryana Engineer). We then see a fairly typical zombie outbreak occur, where Rain Ocampo (Michelle Rodriguez) tries to help out to little avail. We also soon learn that this is not the real Alice. The real Alice, having been captured, is interrogated by Jill, but escapes during a power failure, only to find herself in her own simulation of a zombie outbreak in Shibuya Square, Tokyo. Here, Alice runs into one of Albert Wesker's (Shawn Roberts) best agents, Ada Wong (Bingbing Li), and Wesker himself appears on a screen, thought to be dead, explaining that the Red Queen has now taken over Umbrella. The main facility is now in Kamchatka, Russia, located underwater. The plan is to have Alica and Ada rendevouz with a rescue team consisting of Leon S. Kennedy (Johann Urb), Barry Burton (Kevin Durand), and Luther West (Boris Kodjoe) and go take care of business. The thing is, do we dare trust that Wesker is trying to help the cause? Of the 'Resident Evil' movies, I only actually caught three of them in theaters; 'Resident Evil', 'Afterlife', and then this. Between 'Afterlife' and this, I pretty much just stopped. In fact, if I'm being perfectly honest, I still haven't actually seen 'The Final Chapter'. So it may be unfair of me to claim these final three as the balls-to-the-wall three-film climax when I don't know anything about the last one yet. Well, except one thing - it's very easy to assume, considering it comes after these last couple, and the fact that it's the final film of the franchise. I see this one pretty much on the same level as I saw 'Afterlife'. The difference being that this is even a little more convoluted in its delivery of awesome eye candy, and plot that's a bit hard to make sense of. It occurs to me with this one that the theme of reaching that final boss keeps happening, but keeps having to go further. In fairness, that's what video games do. But also, in fairness to the fans, all of the big-wig creations in those games, though often seen, do seem to take a bit of a back seat through this series. Once again, they look pretty damn cool, but I can't help but feel they are severely underused. I furthermore don't know how the hell one is supposed to suddenly be able to trust Wesker, considering he's been the source of so much of Alice's anguish through all of these movies up until this point. Even to look at him, you're just like "VILLAIN!" I think the one thing this movie has going for it above the others is that it delves quite a bit into Alice's apparent past, which of course includes her daughter, Becky, who does come back around to play a sort of Newt (from 'Aliens') character while Alice is the very clear Ripley (although I might suggest Ripley is more bad ass). Much like the previous film, it's one in the series I sincerely don't care for much. All style, very little substance, and when it tries to have heart, it's actually kind of unsuccessful. There's something about Alice's past that feels too little too late, but perhaps that's just me. This isn't something I hate, but it's definitely a weak point in the series (which says quite a bit). That said, I'm actually kind of looking forward to how this all ends... 2/5  Beginning in 2004, and lasting up until now, the 'Far Cry' game series is definitely among the most popular game series out there. With this film being 2008, it was released with only the first of the now six games done, and the second was well on the way. The fist game follows a Special Forces operator turned boat charter named Jack Carver. He is hired by a Valerie Constantine to take her to an uncharted island in Micronesia. The boat is attacked, Valerie goes missing, Jack goes searching, and there's arguably a real 'Uncharted' vibe to it, complete with plot twists, strange creatures and interesting connections between characters.
As the film opens, we get a mercenary squad attacked by some sort mutant creature, as they attempt to track down a number of escaped test subjects. We soon meet, watching the event with seemingly great interest, Dr. Krieger (Udo Kier), who is obviously up to no good, but we're not altogether sure exactly what it is he's up to. We just know it has something to do with whatever it is attacking these mercenaries. Asked to stop his "research" after these attacks, he refuses. Although this is a Boll film, I'm going to give a nudge of credit to Kier's performance here, as he is actually quite a creepy guy, and easy to buy as a madman type of villain. In the meantime, we meet Valerie Cardinal (Emmanuelle Vaugier), who is secretly receiving information about Krieger's secret project. She soon agrees to meet with her informant in person for further information. Like in the game, Valerie is a journalist who hires ex Special Forces Operator, Jack Carver (Til Schweiger) to take her to the island. The boat is attacked by mercenaries, Valerie is captured, at first, but soon enough things switch gears a bit. While Jack insists on leaving the island, Valerie refuses to without her informant, her uncle Max, who evidently once served with Jack, though Jack claims not to know him. So basically, rescue mission, and stop the madman. Perhaps its a bold statement, but as far as Boll's video game adaptations go, this one feels a little more "right on" than most. The only real problem with it is some of the writing ("surprise") and direction (another "surprise"). I feel like if this whole idea could have been put in someone else's hands, this could have been a decent film. Not great, but at least pretty passable. I may say it passes as a video game adaptation, but that's only really in that the plot is very similar. This doesn't pull any sort of 'Resident Evil' gimmicks, trying to make it something separate. It's at least trying to be like the game, and in the right mind-set it's possible to enjoy this... mildly, and ironically, but possible. One thing is for sure though, after this, I'm looking forward to not having to touch anything else Uwe Boll-written and/or directed (that is, until I do my next part of "The Arcade" sometime down the line, covering animation and straight to video releases) after this. The adaptations that lie ahead may not be great, but Uwe Boll films just have this certain strange feel to them - like watching the acting in a pornographic movie, but without any sex, and if there is any sex, it tends to feel a bit awkward. This had a moment or two, and I might suggest it's not as bad as it could be, but it's still quite bad. Don't take my word for it though, check it out on YouTube for free and judge for yourself. 2/5  When it comes to the 'Resident Evil' film series, this is the only other one I can say I actually like (along with the first). My mind has the potential to change on some chapters further down the road, as I only ever saw the next two, and it was a series I wasn't really invested in. I just went to the theater to be entertained, but a lot of the time had forgotten what happened previously, and they just ended up being all style no substance. But hey, they did have some pretty cool 3D action sequences. Anyway, for the time being, 'Extinction' isn't only the other one I like, but honestly, probably my favourite of the batch.
Fair warning, as we are doing a chain of sequels, there's high potential for spoilers from previous films, and this starts more or less where the last one leaves off. The previous film ends with Alice (Milla Jovovich) escaping an Umbrella research facility with help from Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr), Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), L.J. (Mike Epps), and Angela (Sophie Vavasseur). By the way, I failed to mention L.J. in my previous review, but that's mostly because he didn't seem to serve much purpose other than being an average joe caught up in the midst of all the chaos surrounding Raccoon City. Anyway, he survives, and we know that all of these characters become acquainted with each other. As the film opens, we learn that Umbrella has completely failed to contain the outbreak of the T Virus, bringing the world to a devastatingly overrun zombie-ridden wasteland. A few have managed to survive, however, by staying on the move. Among the survivors are Alice, who is travelling solo when we meet up with her, as she discovers the possibility that Alaska may yet be untouched. She eventually meets up with a convoy of scavenging survivors, looking for food and supplies at any stop they can manage, and convinces them that Alaska is probably the best direction to head. Among the convoy are, Carlos and L.J. from the previous film, and it's lead by Claire Redfield (Ali Larter). We also meet the likes of "K-Mart" (Spencer Locke), Mikey (Christopher Egan), Otto (Joe Hursley), Betty (Ashanti) and Chase (Linden Ashby). Meanwhile, Dr. Isaacs (Iain Glen) makes capturing Alice his top priority, as she has somehow bonded with the T-Virus without physically mutating into some insane monster (as we saw with "Lickers" and Nemesis in the previous films). He believes that they can use Alice's blood to develop a serum that will not cure the zombie infection, but perhaps domesticate it. The idea is brushed aside by Umbrella CEO, Albert Wesker (Jason O'Mara), who would prefer he works on his clone project; the "Project Alice" mentioned at the end of the previous film. Basically, they have been able to clone a bunch of new Alices trying to recreate what they made at the end of the first film, when original Alice was first exposed to the T-Virus. It's nice that we're introduced to a few new characters here, who I recognize by name base don the games - namely Claire Redfield and Albert Wesker. As far as their game presences go, it's hard for me to say how right or wrong they got these characters, but from what little I do know, it seems fairly accurate - although I pictured Claire a little differently, Larter does a fine job here, and I won't ever deny the little celebrity crush I've had on her since 'Final Destination'. So yeah, there may be a little bias here when you get right down to it. I'd have to say the only thing this lacks in is the quality of the main plotline. While what's going on at Umbrella seems intriguingly evil, the survivors are living out the typical zombie road trip plot with a few variations. But that might also be what I liked about it. It was simple. The film ends on a pretty similar note as the first two, where Alice comes across something new about herself. In the first one, she is exposed to the T-Virus and is able to run faster, jump higher, be tougher, etc. In the second one, she develops telekinesis (which, again, I failed to mention, but it works as a pretty powerful weapon for her) and in this one... well, await my next 'Resident Evil' review that is sure to open with a few spoilers, although considering what I've told you, you may well be able to guess already. Anyway, I tend to lean towards this chapter of the 'Resident Evil' series more than most, but it tends to be a little more up the alley of someone like me - used to the average zombie flick without a lot of complex material. What does the next chapter have in store? 3/5  Once again, with this particular adaptation, I tend to be an odd man out. Despite the fact that 'Doom' fans, for the most part, seem to actively hate this movie and how it tackles things, I tend to think there are far worse video game adaptations out there. Does it represent the games perfectly? No. But I admit that the overall aesthetic of the film is something that genuinely reminds me of the games. It may not be right on, but it's certainly not so horribly off as looking at "Goombas" in 'Super Mario Bros'. I'd say that all the right elements are here, it's just that a hack and slash game like 'Doom' is hard to make into something to take seriously.
Opening in 2026 (so soon), deep below the Nevada Desert, a portal to an ancient Martian city is discovered and named "The Ark". Jumping to 2046, a group of personnel at the Union Aerospace Corporation research facility on Mars are attacked by an unknown source, sending eight Marines into action after a distress call from Dr. Carmack (Robert Russell). Said marines, lead by Sarge (Dwayne Johnson - still credited as "The Rock") include John "Reaper" Grimm (Karl Urban), Destroyer (Deobia Oparei), Goat (Ben Daniels), Duke (Razaaq Adoti), Portman (Richard Brake), Mac (Yao Chin), and a rookie going by The Kid (Al Weaver). Their mission is to search and destroy whatever caused the distress call, and retrieve computer data from their various science experiments. Upon reaching Mars, the Marines meet up with UAC employee Pinky (Dexter Fletcher) and Reaper finds his sister, Dr. Sam Grimm (Rosamund Pike). They learn that a dig site was reopened where an ancient, genetically enhanced humanoid race was discovered. But little do they know just how heavy things are about to get, and their search, destroy, retrieval mission soon turns into a living Hell, as they are eventually picked off, one by one, by mysterious and demon-like creatures. The film also does a decent job of keeping us guessing as to who the real villain is here, as one particular character goes the other direction after a while. So while not perfect, all of the right elements do seem to be here. Well, except for one very important, key thing to the games, and I therefore understand why fans are upset. The setting here is LIKE Hell, but it's not actually Hell as the games would suggest. These creatures aren't the Imps and Hell Knights we all know and love so much as genetically altered humanoids that look demonic. I suppose this was done for a couple of reasons. For one, 'Event Horizon' had already done Hell in space as far as film is concerned, and secondly, for a general movie-going audience, human experimentation might be a little scarier than the simplicity of Hell. Facing facts, the games are incredibly simplified. Go fight demons and try not to die. I can agree with the disappointment of there not being Hell on Mars here, as it would have been such a simple change. But it wasn't enough to completely ruin things for me, either. I managed to just see it as an alternate take while all the right elements were still there. The film includes some of our favourite doom items, which help make it a bit more like the game. There are doors that need the right key cards, a med-kit is requested to heal someone, the "steroids" (or at least some kind of drug) is present, the BFG exists here as the cool big weapon Dwayne Johnson wants to use against the creatures he's fighting, and above all else, the best scene of the movie is from a first-person perspective as the character does indeed hack and slash his way through things. All in all, adaptation wise, I might actually consider this to be one of the slightly better ones out there as long as you can work around the whole "no Hell" idea. It could have been better, sure, but I guarantee you it could have been a Hell of a lot worse. 3/5  This one comes to us based on the PC game franchise of the same name, now having these reviews branch out from console games. The games are of the survival horror genre, predating 'Resident Evil', and tend to follow the exploits of Edward Carnby, as he investigates haunted houses or undead-ridden towns. This is yet another game franchise I know absolutely nothing about - just the name. But I do know that it had its fan base, and according to most fans, this was a bitter disappointment, and one of the worst video game adaptations of all time.
The film is evidently meant to be a "semi-sequel" to the fourth game, 2001's 'The New Nightmare' (not to be confused with 'Wes Craven's New Nightmare'), it has almost nothing to do with the 90s series, or any games that would continue in the future. So it's perfectly understandable that several fans would be disappointed, but then there's the cherry on top of this crud sundae - the director is Uwe Boll. This guy would be responsible for several bad video game movies, and this is the second we're covering; the first being 'House of the Dead', which was something I considered the "worst video game movie I've seen in my life". But let me tell you something, this is not much better. We meet the film version of Edward Carnby (Christian Slater); a paranormal investigator, specializing in the occult, and keeping us "safe" from the horrors we can't see. He has developed a sixth sense for the paranormal since he was experimented on as a kid. He also once worked for Bureau 713 - basically the 'Men in Black' for the supernatural. Carnby investigates a demon-worshipping tribe called the Abkani, who disappeared ages ago. This connects him with his girlfriend, Aline (Tara Reid) who is assistant curator at a museum, and unboxes some Abkani relics, which soon lead to a portal that brings in demonic creatures that Carnby, Aline and Richard Burke (Stephen Dorff); Carnby's replacement in 713 have to fend off. This probably sounds a little more interesting than it really is, as the film comes out to be dull, badly acted, and a bit of an inexplicable mess as it unfolds. It all opens with a crawl, explaining way too much, and not showing us a damn thing - in fact, the opening crawl could almost be adapted into its own movie. On top of that, you've got Slater's narration that sounds a bit like an eight year old kid presenting a project in front of his class - he's just one-note, uninterested, and shows absolutely no emotion. Then we have Tara Reid, who shows about as much emotion as a lamp post. It also does what 'House of the Dead' does and tries herd to be "awesome" with loud music and gunfire, but it looks more like a commercial for laser tag here or something. As far as video game movies go, this is definitely one of the worst. Even watching it as its own thing doesn't excuse a lot of the bad that comes with this. It's not quite like 'Resident Evil' in that sense (although, it sure seems like it's trying to be a lot of the time). Anywhere you look at this movie, it's rated terribly, and it's yet another one to watch with a group of friends just to laugh at how terrible it is. However, it's not like this is "so bad it's good", this is just plain bad. It does not allow me to look forward to any future Uwe Boll video game movies I have set up for my reviews, but can it really get any worse than this or 'House of the Dead'? (which I still might consider worse than this, but not by much). We'll see, soon enough. 1/5 |
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